This movie follows the life of our hero, Dave ( apparently not having a last name is the latest trend in New York City ), from a very young age, starting from his first encounter with Balthazar ( Cage ) in his antique shop. After revealing to Dave that he is the "chosen one", Dave accidentally releases the evil Horvath ( Alfred Molina) from a magical imprisonment, inevitably engaging Balthazar in imortal combat. Balthazar then imprisons himself, along with Horvath, in a ten-year prison so as to buy the world time. Of course when the ten years are up, the two enemies are released and end up finding their ways back into Dave's somewhat normal life. Now Dave must master the art of sorcery if he wishes to save the world from complete annihilation.
Well, it ain't no Harry Potter or Narnia movie, but The Socerer's Apprentice has enough magic and action to make the recent Percy Jackson film look like it's an unoriginal, unentertainning adaptation of a teen fantasy novel ( like that's so hard to do ). There is constantly some sort of magic spell being cast in this movie and most of that magic is being used in such a way that it enhances the entertainment value of the action sequences, thus making this film more fun.
This film has a cast of great actors that will definitely draw the attention of people who wouldn't otherwise care for a movie like this. Among them are Jay Baruchel, no doubtedly rounding up the younger audience, the very talented Alfred Molina, drawing in all those Spider-Man 2 fans, and the great Nicholas Cage, whom everybody loves. Everybody in this movie can act ( with the exception of the kid who played the young Dave, who was obviously hired only because he looks like a young Jay Baruchel ) and Molina does a good bad guy, but it is Nicholas Cage who really shines in this one. Cage brings himself into this film, making us laugh, cry, and laugh again in the way that only he can deliver. This movie also has a soft spot for its own characters and it seems to want all of them to succeed and throughout the movie, the characters start to grow on you.
The direction in this film is was interesting and none of the camerawork was too distracting. Most of the action sequences were not filled with quick cuts, which was a relief because I could actually tell what was going on for the most part. The script was funny and it added to the overall goofball atmosphere of the movie; however, the love-dovey sequences in this film were boring and started ocurring too often which dragged the movie along in some parts.
The beginning narrative that gives the background story of Balthazar and the rest of the Merlinians is awkward and does not feel like it fits in with the rest of the movie; it is cliché and does not serve as a formitable attention grabber. The beginning of this film with the young Dave is boring and it doesn't pick up until Cage's character is finally introduced (which, luckily, is only about ten minutes into the movie) and the ending is unsasisfactory.
Overall, The Socerer's Apprentice is a fun film that survives on Cage's comedic skills, love for its characters, and great pop culture refrences including Star Wars and Magic the Gathering.
The Socerer's Apprentice conjures up three pairs of old man shoes outta five.
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